Earlier this month, the NFL announced which players were receiving invites to their 2023 scouting combine in advance of the NFL Draft and four Cardinal standouts received invites: Quarterback Tanner McKee, wide receiver Elijah Higgins, wide receiver Michael Wilson, and cornerback Kyu Blu Kelly.
Starting with Tanner McKee, he declared for the 2023 NFL Draft following his junior year. During his time in a Cardinal uniform, he threw for 5,336 yards, 28 touchdowns and 15 interceptions for a 63.0% completion percentage. As a junior, McKee threw for 2,947 yards, 13 touchdowns, and 8 interceptions for a 62.0% completion percentage, playing in all 12 of the Cardinal’s games. McKee is a sort of a wild card in terms of where he could get picked.
If he has a good enough combine, he could find himself getting picked in the 1st round despite not having the most impressive stats. He has a great size at 6’6”, 230 pounds to go along with a strong arm and pinpoint accuracy. Throwing in tight windows is something David Shaw always praised him for doing and rightfully so. There were throws he made that reminded you of his NFL talent. My guess is he goes somewhere in the 2nd to 4th rounds, but as I said, with a strong enough combine, he could go somewhere in the 1st round.
Switching gears to Elijah Higgins, he has really good size for a wide receiver at 6’3”, 234 pounds and also has terrific speed with an ability to make catches in traffic and absorb contact. He’s one of those guys who passes the eye test. You just watch him play and he looks like he should be able to find a home in the NFL.
During his senior year, Higgins had 59 receptions for 704 yards and 2 touchdowns. For his career, he had 119 receptions for 1,380 yards and 6 touchdowns. Given his physical gifts, he’s one who the Cardinal offense could have definitely utilized more. It’s a shame they didn’t get more out of him.
As far as where Higgins will be picked, it’s hard to figure where exactly he’ll go. I would guess he’s a 3rd to 5th round guy. He’s got tremendous physical tools and certainly passes the eye test, but I don’t think his body of work in college is stellar enough for him to go any higher than that. He certainly has the potential to be a guy who teams look back on and wish they drafted higher, though.
As for Michael Wilson, he’s a bit more undersized at 6’2”, 209 pounds and dealt with a lot of injuries during his Stanford career. After playing in 13 games as a freshman and 12 games as a sophomore, he played in just 4 games during the shortened COVID season, 4 games in 2021, and 6 games in 2022 as a fifth-year. Health is definitely a big question mark NFL teams are going to have about him.
When he was able to play, Wilson played really well. During his career, he had 134 receptions for 1,662 yards and 11 touchdowns. As a fifth-year, Wilson had 26 receptions for 418 yards and 4 touchdowns. His most productive season was his sophomore season in 2019 in which he had 56 receptions for 672 yards and 5 touchdowns.
What Wilson does really well is he’s a good route runner and is very technical. He has a high IQ and knows exactly where he’s supposed to be and how to execute his assignment. Aside from staying healthy, ball security is the biggest thing he needs to work on. He had too many drops in his Stanford career and that’s something I’m sure the scouts will talk to him about if they haven’t already.
Regarding his draft projections, I would expect Wilson to be a 5th to 7th round selection. Possibly undrafted. Just because of all the injuries he’s had and also the fact that he’s not the biggest guy out there. Plus, he’s gotta prove he can be reliable at securing receptions. That said, I do think he’ll find a home somewhere in the NFL and I also think odds are good he gets drafted when it’s all said and done. Just because around 75% of all players invited to the NFL Combine get drafted and he also brings a lot to the table with his route running, IQ, and overall feel for the game. He’s the kind of guy a lot of teams will be interested in adding.
Finally, we have Kyu Blu Kelly. At 6’1, 188 pounds, Kelly is an athletic cornerback that passes the eye test. He was used to taking on the top receivers of every team Stanford faced and for the most part he stood tall. During his Stanford career, Kelly had 148 total tackles (112 solo), 1.5 tackles for loss, 3 interceptions, 26 pass deflections, 1 forced fumble, and 1 fumble recovery. As a senior, Kelly had 35 total tackles (26 solo), and 6 pass deflections. As a junior, Kelly had his best season with 58 total tackles (42 solo), 2 interceptions, 13 pass deflections, 1 forced fumble, and 1 fumble recovery.
Looking ahead to where he’ll get picked, Kelly is likely a 3rd to 5th round selection. His dad played in the NFL, so his bloodlines should definitely help and while his senior year didn’t go as well as he would have liked, his junior season was pretty strong and should give teams enough faith to draft him on its own merits. At times he was tasked with having to do too much for the Cardinal defense and that’s something that NFL teams will definitely take into account as well when they consider his NFL resume.
To connect with CardinalSportsReport.com on Facebook and Twitter, click here.
To connect with Ben Parker on Facebook and Twitter, click here.
Email: slamdunk406@yahoo.com
